It’s said that a crisis tends to accelerate changes that were already on the way, and we’re hoping that’s the case when it comes to the global semiconductor shortage.
Stellantis, the multinational conglomerate made up of no less than 14 American, Italian and French auto brands, is now prioritizing the production of EVs over legacy models in Europe.
“We will continue to manage all powertrains together, but EVs come first,” Anne-Lise Richard, Stellantis’s head of e-mobility, told Automotive News. “We see more costumers that are willing to buy EVs now.”
Europe has seen a huge surge in EV demand in recent months, presumably partly due to growing government incentives. One of the most generous incentive programs is in Germany, where rebates can reduce the up-front cost of an EV by as much as €9,000 ($10,400).
Stellantis has said it will invest over €30 billion ($35 billion) in electrification between now and 2025. All the company’s many brands will be launching EVs, and a few are slated to become EV-only brands.
At the moment, Stellantis offers no pure EVs in the US market, but it has no fewer than 14 in its European lineup, including models from Peugeot, Citroën, Opel/Vauxhall and Fiat (although, as InsideEVs points out, none of these is built on a native EV platform).
Source: Automotive News via InsideEVs